Club Med Yucatán Hotel

Mexico

For families where sport and activity is at the core of a holiday, there are few better locations than Club Med’s Yucatán resort, set on the Yucatán Peninsula furthermost away from the less salubrious parts of Cancún.

As one of the first hotels built around Cancún in 1976, it occupies a huge area, encompassing a sprawling private beach, a millpond-still lagoon for watersports and an enclave buffeted by rocks that’s ideal for stand-up paddle boarding. As with all Club Med properties, watersports activities are covered in the cost and include tuition, which at all levels is first class. Quality sports facilities are found all over the hotel. Ten championship- grade tennis courts are busy from morning until evening, a trapeze wire teaches kids circus skills and snorkelling is available on the world’s second-largest coral reef, which teems with beautiful marine life with minimal current.

Three restaurants are on site: a good-quality Mexican serving local specialities, a truly excellent steakhouse and a buffet that serves fresh, globetrotting dishes all through the day. For a bit of added luxury couples should book into the Jade Club with its private pool, bar and fewer children. For families, the new Aguamarina area offers huge, brightly coloured suites with direct access to the beach, where windsurfers maraud the coastline all day. With facilities as extensive as these, you won’t need to leave the resort.

Seven nights from £1,275 adults, £1,117 children (kids under six go free).